ТEME, г. XXXIX, бр. 3, јул септембар 2015, стр. 945964 Оригиналан научни рад Примљено: 30. 1. 2015. UDK 329(497.11)”18” Ревидирана верзија: 6. 4. 2015. Одобрено за штампу: 18. 9. 2015. ESTABLISHMENT AND ORGANISATION OF SERBIAN POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 19th CENTURY a Miroslav D. Pešić*, Božica B. Mladenović University of Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, History Department, Niš, Sebia *[email protected] Abstract This paper discusses the chronology of the establishment and organisation of political parties in Serbia during the 1880s. The National Radical Party was established in January 1881 as the first organised political party in Serbia. Two other political parties, the Progressive and the Liberal Party, followed soon after. The establishment of the local committee in Belgrade in early December of 1881 marked the constitution of the National Radical Party. Other local committees were established throughout Serbia immediately after the first one. The local committees represented the basic organisational units of the Progressive Party with the General Committee based in Belgrade. The Statutes of the National Liberal Party, issued on 3/15 March 1883, defined the following bodies: General Committee, local committees, and the Party Meetings. Key words: national radical party, progressive party, liberal party, general committee, statutes, local committees ОСНИВАЊЕ И ОРГАНИЗАЦИЈА СРПСКИХ ПОЛИТИЧКИХ СТРАНАКА У 19. ВЕКУ Апстракт У раду се говори о историјату оснивања и организације политичких странака у Србији 80-тих година 19. века. Народна радикална странка основана је у јануару 1881. године, као прва организована политичка странка у Србији. Убрзо након оснивања Народне радикалне странке, образоване су још две политичке партије, Напредне и Либерална. Конституисање Народне радикалне странке отпочело је оснивањем месног одбора у Београду почетком децембра 1881. године. Потом је настављено оснивање месних пододбора широм Србије. Основу организације a This paper is the result of the research within the projects of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Serbia Modernisation of the Western Balkans (No. 177009) and From Universal Empires towards the National States – Social and Political Changes in Serbia and in the Balkans (No. 177030). 946 Напредне странке чинили су месни одбори, док је седиште Главног одбора странке било у Београду. Статутима Народне либералне странке који су потврђени 3/15. марта 1883. године били су предвиђени следећи органи власти: Главни одбор, месни одбори и Скупови странке. Кључне речи: Народна радикална, Напредна, Либерална странка, Главни одбор, Статути, месни одбори. INTRODUCTION Ideologically speaking, the young Serbian intellectuals studying abroad are considered to have been the initiators of the establishment of political parties in Serbia. The establishment and activities of the Association of Serbian Youth (1848-1851) represent the first signs of liberalism in Serbia. This association advocated the liberal and democratic transformation of the Serbian state. The ideology of political liberalism was introduced by the young and educated intellectuals who studied in the Western European countries – Milovan Janković, Jevrem Grujić, Vladimir Jovanović, Stojan Bošković, Filip Hristić, ĐorĊe Cenić, and many others who expressed their liberal and democratic ideas at the St. Peter‟s Day Assembly in 1848. During the Assembly sessions in Kragujevac in 1848, they particularly demanded that greater importance be given to the issues such as freedom of the press, freedom of education and teaching, and higher salaries for teachers. They also demanded that the Assembly convene more frequently and not only with the purpose of resolving local and tax issues. It was also the time when the seeds of the conflict between the two opposing political ideologies, the conservatives and the liberals, were planted. Whereas the liberals demanded political freedom in the Principality of Serbia, the conservatives advocated the rule by decrees and commands, i.e. a police and bureaucratic state. The differences between these two ideologies had already become so great that they could not be surmounted in the following period. The events of 1848 seem to have contributed to a further ideological and political advancement of Serbia in the 19th century. However, it was the St. Andrew‟s Day Assembly in 1858 that started the Serbian civil revival. The two political groups, the liberals and the conservatives, clearly presented themselves as distinct and separate ideologies during the Assembly sessions. The Party of St. Andrew‟s Day Assembly, as the liberals named their political group, argued for the regular sessions of the National Assembly, freedom of the press, political responsibility of the ministers, and other civil rights in the domestic policy, and argued against any foreign interference in the domestic issues of the Principality of Serbia in the foreign policy. The representative system, which was introduced by the 1869 Constitution, created the necessary preconditions for the establishment of the modern political parties. The activities of political leaders, whose principal concern during the elections was to create firm links with their 947 voters, were facilitated by regular political elections and the fact that the National Assembly obtained legislative powers and functions. After the 1869 Constitution, the liberals organised themselves under the leadership of Jovan Ristić. The establishment of the Young Conservatives‟ opposition followed very soon. The third political group, the supporters and followers of Svetozar Marković, appeared on the political scene at the same time. The Young Conservatives were the descendants of the conservative Defenders of the Constitution. However, a group of young conservative politicians was inspired by the liberal and democratic ideas, i.e. their conservatism was largely diluted by liberalism. The establishment of political parties in Serbia was significantly influenced by the Assembly elections in October 1874. Several political groups emerged after these elections: St. Andrew‟s Liberals led by Jevrem Grujić, Ristić‟s Liberals, Conservatives led by Jovan Marinović, Young Conservatives, and Nationalists as the embryo of the future Radicals. The establishment of political parties was accelerated by the young intellectuals engaged in the publication of the newspaper Videlo (Mirror) and connected to the Nationalists in the National Assembly (More in: Ţivanović, 1923, pp. 21-333; Prodanović, 1947, pp. 5-520; Mitrović, 1939, pp. 5-70; Janković, 1941, pp. 5-29; Janković, 1951, pp. 80-230; Janković, 1997, pp. 34-208; Milićević, 2002, pp. 242-253, 285). THE EMERGENCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES The Ristić government resigned on 19/31 October 1880, after which the government was constituted by the Young Conservatives, led by Milan Piroćanac (21 October/2 November 1880 – 21 September/3 October 1883). Milan Piroćanac became the Prime Minister of Serbia; Ĉedomilj Mijatović was the Foreign Affairs Minister until 10/22 October 1881, after which Milan Piroćanac took this office; Milutin Garašanin was the Minister of Internal Affairs; Milan Piroćanac was the Minister of Justice until 10/22 October 1881, after which the office was taken by Dimitrije G. Radović; Ĉedomilj Mijatović was the Minister of Finance; Stojan Novaković was the Minister of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs; Milojko Lešjanin was the Minister of Defence until 12/24 February 1882, after which the office was taken by Tihomilj Nikolić; Jevrem P. Gudović was the Minister of Construction until 9/21 March 1882, after which Milutin Garašanin performed this duty until 4/16 January 1883 to be succeeded by Jovan Petrović; and Jevrem P. Gudović, was the Minister of Economy since 18/30 March 1882 (Ljušić, 2005, p. 146). The Young Conservatives and the Radicals acted together against the Liberals. The „strong‟ opponents of the Ristić government were generally proposed to take the office. The political affiliations of the candidates, i.e. their inclinations towards either the Young Conservatives 948 or the Radicals, were of no concern. Nikola Pašić, regardless of the fact that he did not manage to be elected for the government, did not break his alliance with the Young Conservatives since he needed their services in the political struggle against Ristić and his Liberals, whom he considered the greatest enemies. However, determined to avoid any possible confusion and to inform his voters about “who is who in the coalition and what goals they are fighting for”, as well as to force the Young Conservatives a priori to keep their promises, Pašić issued a proclamation To the Friends of the People (Prijateljima naroda) which was published in Videlo on 8/20 November 1880 (Kazimirović, 1990, p. 354). Besides Pašić, the proclamation was also signed by Paja Vuković, Rista Popović, Joca Ţ. Jovanović, and Kosta Taušanović. Raša Milošević cited the complete text of the proclamation since it was of the utmost importance for the future political struggle of the Radical Party. “The present political and economic situation which befell our nation has forced us to appeal to all those who consider themselves the friends of our people and to express our view of the present situation of our state, as well as of the further actions necessary to improve it, and provide the agreeable circumstances for our people in which to live and develop in the future. The struggle for national rights has been fought among our people for a long time; even though